Ola Introduces ‘Share’, A Social Ride-Sharing Feature Which Lets You Split Fare Among Friends

Ola is today announcing the launch of a new feature, called ‘Share’ — similar to UberPOOL — which lets users split fare among each other. The feature is currently in Beta and available to select customers in Bangalore with an introductory fare of Rs 50 anywhere in Bangalore, for any number of rides.

While the feature is similar to UberPOOL, Ola has brought in a more social element into this. The ride can be shared with up to two other users from social groups that a user is part of. Ola says, that it has taken care of user privacy as the feature allows customers to travel with users from social groups they choose to be part of, without having to share their ride with strangers.

A user can join multiple groups or simply choose to share a ride with anyone. As soon as a user requests a Share ride on the Ola app, they will be matched with other users from their groups along their way.

Ishan Gupta, Head – Ola Share said in a statement,

WithShare, we not only bring economy, convenience and comfort of travelling with people in your circles, but also increased inventory utilization of vehicles on the platform. This will also contribute towards significant reduction of traffic, congestion and pollution in our cities.

Using Ola’s ride-sharing system, customers can choose to book an ‘Ola Share’ cab, which will now start appearing on the Ola app as a separate category. On mentioning the drop location, Ola will use its algorithms to match users from common groups who are also looking for a cab on the same route in real time.

Once additional user’s en-route is identified, the driver’s device gets an alert with navigation to their pickup location within minutes, to join the ride. A maximum of 3 people can share a cab together via Ola Share. Driver-partners get an option to log into the Share platform, getting instant access to increased revenue of up to 50%, through continuous fulfilment of booking requests.

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